What was the worst riot in American History? Watts in 1965? Detroit in 1967? The LA riots in 1992 after the Rodney King beating? These were nothing compared to the mackdaddy of them all, the New York City Draft riots. The Big Apple in 1863 was a vast pressure cooker just waiting to blow, riven by racial and class tensions, combined with disillusionment towards the Civil War raging outside. When Abraham Lincoln introduced a draft to fill the depleted ranks of the Union Army, violence exploded on an almost unimaginable scale. As the city descended into bloody chaos, it would take the same US army regiments that had just been victorious at Gettysburg to retake the streets. #history #militaryhistory #america #newyork #civilwar